Ink
by corset-rebellion-follower
Summary: Shifu is mulling over his relationship with Tigress and how he can express to her his true feelings. Takes place in between Big or Little Ears? and A Reminder. Read those first! Oneshot ShifuTigress.


Ink

By corset-rebellion-follower

Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda

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A huge streak of ink covered the page, ruining the beautiful calligraphy that had filled the page only a moment ago. The floor was covered with crumpled up pieces of paper. The desk was also covered with rejects, and had splotches of ink everywhere.

The once neat, tall stack of unused xuanzhi paper was almost gone, and the few sheets that were left were no longer in a neat pile. A few brushes covered in now dry ink lay askew in a pile in one corner of the desk. And one very aggravated red panda sat in front of the mess.

Shifu sighed and put down the brush he was using. Then he quickly crumpled up the latest failure and threw it over his shoulder, to join the graveyard behind him. He rested his head in his hands. His brain throbbed from thinking of so many things to say and then shooting them all down. His hands ached even worse from trying to get them all down on paper and making them sound the way he meant them to, let alone getting the symbols right. And all his labors had given him nothing.

_Ugh… what was I thinking anyway? It's not as if she would have said yes. And I would be making a fool of myself. _He looked at the chaos that was once his desk. The inkstick was nearly gone, and the inkstone was covered in black dust. But nevertheless, he dipped his brush in the ink and started writing again.

_My Dearest Tigress,_

_The past two months have been… _

He paused. They had been wonderful, amazing, incredible, and remarkable; any of the preceding adjectives would be applicable. Training had been as usual, but he and Tigress had spent countless evenings sitting under the stars, talking about whatever subject blew into their minds with the warm spring breeze.

_...some of the best of my days. You have truly made a new impression of yourself in my life. _

Shifu smiled as he remembered a night that a raging thunderstorm had hit the Valley. He had been awoken by a quiet whimpering under the pounding rain and rolling thunder. The whimpering had come from Tigress's room, as he has suspected.

She had always been terrified of thunderstorms, ever since she was a little girl at the age of eight, when she had pounded on his bedroom door during a thunderstorm. When he had opened the door, she had tears running down her cheeks. As she had gotten older, she had stopped coming to his door every time there was a storm.

But this particular storm was very bad, with thunder cracking the sky open and rain pouring down in buckets. The whimpering became louder as he approached her room and pulled the door open. Tigress was huddled on her bed, rocking back and forth slightly.

Normally Tigress was so brave and strong, it was a little worrying to see her in this way. So he sat next to her on her bed and gently stroked her cheek. Once she saw it was him, she threw her arms around him and sobbed quietly.

She had seemed so fragile then, like she could be shattered in his hand. It had hurt to see her like this. But it was good that she was expressing her feelings instead of keeping them bottled up like she normally did in public. She was so volatile in the way she displayed her feelings. But recently she had been much more open with everyone as time went on.

_I can't describe the feeling that swells in my heart when I think of you. I…_

He threw the brush down. How could he possibly put into words what he was trying to say? Every time he tried to put his feelings on paper, it would sound so formal it would be like a business deal rather than a marriage proposal.

_What makes me think that she'd want to marry me anyway? She's probably just humoring me. She's beautiful, graceful, determined. She would make a perfect wife. It's no wonder Tai Lung showed interest in her. She's perfect in every way imaginable. _

"Shifu?" He jumped at the sound of the smooth voice. He slowly turned around, already knowing who it was from the moment she spoke. Tigress stood tall with her hand on her hip. "Are you alright?" she asked, sitting down next to him after sweeping some of the papers away.

"I—I'm fine," he said dismally.

"Are you sure? You missed lunch," she said quietly, stroking the fur on his head and tracing his ears.

"I'm not very hungry. There are other things occupying my mind other than noodles and dumplings," he said pensively.

She kissed the tip of one of his ears, causing it to twitch. She quietly laughed. "Things like what?"

Shifu didn't answer. _Now is the opportune moment. She __asked__ you what you've been thinking about. Propose to her before it's too late! _"Shifu, what's bothering you? I haven't seen you this tense since before the tournament when our beloved Dragon Warrior fell into our grasp," she prodded.

"I have been thinking about certain aspects of my life," he said, choosing his words carefully.

"What kind of aspects?" she asked curiously.

"Aspects that have great effect on my future life," he answered.

Tigress laughed. "Shifu, do you never answer anything straightforward? Just tell me, I promise I won't tease you."

"I should sincerely hope so," he muttered under his breath. She smiled.

"So what have you been working on?" she asked, picking up one of the crumpled pieces of paper and tossing it up and down.

"Will you marry me?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You wanted to know what I've been working on all day. And that's it. I've been thinking of every possible means to express how I feel about you," he confessed. Tigress's mouth was hanging open. She stared off into space for a minute, avoiding Shifu's gaze.

"I… I don't know what to say," she said breathlessly.

"If you refuse me, I completely understand. After all, you could have any man you wish. You're beautiful, smart, caring…" Tigress smiled. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

"You're right. I could have any man I wish. But I don't want a man who will just do whatever I want because I'm famous. I want someone who isn't afraid to talk back to me and to fight for what he wants. I want to marry you."

Shifu's eyes widened and he pulled back from her embrace. "You… you want to marry me?" She nodded and kissed his forehead.

"Take some time to recover from that, but then get something to eat. But you might want to wash your face first, it's covered in ink."

A/N: This is sort of a scene in between Big or Little Ears? and A Reminder. I hope that everyone is in character and what-not.


End file.
